Poll: Kavanaugh support falls along party lines

A plurality of voters support confirming Brett Kavanaugh on the eve of Senate hearings into his nomination to the Supreme Court, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll. Only 37 percent of voters say the Senate should vote to confirm Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump’s choice to replace former Justice Anthony Kennedy. But even fewer — roughly three-in-10, or 29 percent — say the Senate shouldn’t vote to confirm Kavanaugh. Another third, 34 percent, are undecided. Story Continued Below Among Republican voters, two-thirds, 67 percent, support confirming Kavanaugh, compared to only 8 percent who think the Senate shouldn’t confirm him. A majority of Democratic voters, 53 percent, say they Senate shouldn’t confirm Kavanaugh, while 15 percent say it should. Independents tilt slightly toward confirming Kavanaugh, 32 percent to 23 percent, with 45 percent expressing no opinion. Views of Kavanaugh have been stable since POLITICO/Morning Consult began asking the question after his appointment: Support for confirming Kavanaugh has ranged between 33 percent and 40 percent, while opposition has tracked between 26 percent and 29 percent. Other polls show higher levels of opposition to Kavanaugh’s confirmation. In a Fox News poll last month, as many voters said they would not vote to confirm Kavanaugh (46 percent) as said they would confirm him (45 percent). Voters surveyed in the POLITICO/Morning Consult poll were asked whether senators should make Kavanaugh’s qualifications to serve on the high court their primary criteria, or whether they should mostly consider the nominee’s positions on key issues that could come… [Read full story]